Chinese Consumers' View of Price Levels Improves

BEIJING—Fewer consumers in Chinese cities found property prices are too high in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter, a central bank survey showed.

Property prices are "high and unacceptable," according to 64.3% of respondents in a People's Bank of China survey for the January-March period released Friday. That is down from 66.5% in the fourth quarter. There was no year-over-year comparison.

Gains in property prices in 70 Chinese cities continued to moderate in February after slowing in January for the first time in a year, as lending limits and concerns about more unsold homes hit demand, according to official data released Tuesday.

Price levels in general are "high and unacceptable," said 55.8% of respondents in the PBOC survey, down from 61.6% in the fourth quarter.

The survey polled 20,000 residents in 50 cities.

Meanwhile, bankers polled by the PBOC are less confident in the broader economy in the quarter—down 3.7 percentage points to 67.6% compared with the fourth quarter

Businesses polled by the central bank said they had fewer new-export orders in the first quarter and they are less optimistic about the economy than in the previous quarter.